IZmo 

#53o 


Home,  sweet  horn 
Conf  Pam  12mo  #590 


No  74 

"  HOME,    SWEET  '  HOME/' 

BV    KEY".    L.    U.    SHUCK,    or    N.    C. 

-     '       % 

My  Soldier  Friend:  When   I  remem!        thai 
you  have  left  behind  the   comforts  of  home  and  the" 
society  of  loved  ones,  to  defend  our  homes  anu  are- 
sides  from  a  cruel  enemy,  T  cannot  but  cal!  you  fi 
You  have  the  warm  regnrd  of  all  true  Christians  and 
patriots.     1  hope  you  will   listen   to  a  few  thoughts 
from  one  who  loves  your  soul,  and  who  would  rejoice 
to  see  it  safe  in  the  hands  of  Jesus,  who  died  to  save 
it  from  everlasting  death.     The  word  home  recalls  to 
your  mind  many  sweet  and  delightful  recollections. 
You  have,  no  doubt,  often  wished  this  distressing  war 
to  end,  that  you  might  return  to  your  home  once  more. 
You  have  learned  "now  that,  "  be  it  ever  so  humble, 
there's  no  place  like  home."     Tn  such  times  of  reflec- 
tions you  have  formed  many  good  resolutions.     You 
may  have  been  guilty  of  profane  swearing,  and  you 
have  resolved  to  abandon  the  wicked  practice,  if  you 
should  be  spared  to  return  home.     You  may  have 
been  intemperaie,  and    you  have  determined  never 
again  to  pain  the  dear  ones  at  home  by  the  sinful  and 
immoderate  use  of  ardent  spirit?,      in  a  word,  you 


have  resolved  to  lead  a  better  life  after  this  war,  and 
to  avoid  everything  calculated  to  disturb  the  enjoy- 
ments of  home.     Amid  your  daily  hardships  and  the 
dangers  of  the  battle-field,  it  is  sweet  to  know  that 
there  is  one  place  where  you  are  remembered  and 
loved.     Are  youafati.er?     Then   be  assured  that 
the  wife  and   little  ones   are   anxiously  watching  for 
your  return.     The  vacant  seat  at  the  table  reminds 
them  constantly  of  the  absent  husband  and  father. — 
Have  you  a  mother  there?     No  wonder,   then,  you 
love  to  think  of  home^   Night  and'  morning,  as  she 
thinks  of  her  absent  boy,  she  prays  to  God  to  protect 
him,  and  to  spare  his  precious  life.     And,   while  in* 
the  daily  discharge  of  her  domestic  duties,  the  tear- 
drops that  glisten  in  her   eye   declare,  more  loudly 
than  words,  that  her  thoughts  are  far  away  with  her 
dear   beloved  boy.     Such   thoughts   have   endeared 
home  to  you  more  than  ever  before,  and  you  long  for 
the  time  to  come  when  our  country  shall  secure  her 
independence,  when  our  enemies  shall  be  driven  from 
the  land,  and  you  shall  be  permitted  to  lay  doWn  your 
arms  and  return  home,  to  you,  the  dearest  spot  of  all 
the  earth.     Now,  if  an  earthly  home  be  so  dear,  far 
dearer  and  more  valuable  is  that  home  offered  to  you 
in  Christ.     Jesus  has  died  upon  the  cross  for  sinners. 
He  offers  in  himself  a  home  of  safety,  rest,  love  and 
eternal  happiness,  to  all  who  will  believe  in  Him.  Home 
is  a  place  of  safety.     When  the  storm  rises,  and  the 
thunders  roll,  and  the  lightings  flash,  the  children  for- 
sake their  play  and   gather    around    their   mother's 
knees ;  the  ploughman  leaves  the  field,  and  all  seek 


the  protection  of  home  until  the  storm  has  passed. — « 
There  is  a  place  of  greater  safety  in  Christ.  u  God 
is  angry  with  the  wicked  every  day."  '•  The  soul 
that  sinncth,  it  .shall  die."  [l  All  we,  like  sheep,  have 
gone  astray."  Jesus  has,  however,  "  become  the  end 
of  the  law  for  righteousness  to  every  ono  that  be- 
lieveth.''  1I<3  is  now  the  refuge  of  the  soul  from  the 
storms  of  divine  vengeance.  Though  a  poor  lost  aud 
ruined  sinner,  if  you  are  found  in  Christ,  God  will, 
for  His  sake,  forgive,  sanctify  and  save  you.  He 
o/onr  can  save  you.  His  blood  eleanseth  from  all 
sin.  Fly  to  Jesus  for  safety.  Contess  and  forsake 
your  sins,  believe  in  Him,  and  you  shall  be  saved. — 
me  of  the  spul.  Home  is  a  place  of 
rest.  The  laborer,  toiling  in  the  heat  and  burden  of 
the  day,  thinks  of  the  sweet  rest  he  will  enjoy  at 
night.  Tlie  soldier  loves  to  think  of  the  rest  that, 
remains  for  him  at  home  when  the  war  is  over. — 
Jesus  alone  can  give  true  rest  to  the  soul.  The  peace 
that  passe th  all  understanding  belongs  only  to  the 
Christian.  "  There  is  no  peace,  saith  the  Lord,  to 
the  wicked."  "The  wicked  is  like  the  troubled  sea, 
continually  casting  up  mire  and  dirt."  Men  have 
sought  for  rest,  out  of  Christ,  but  have  never  found  it. 
Some  have  sought  it  in  the  pursuit  of  wealth,  but  its 
golden  key  failed  to  disclose  the  much  coveted  treas- 
ure. Some  have  sought  it  in  earthly  fame  and  re- 
nown, but  all  the  evergreen  fame  that  humau  glory 
could  bestow  have  failed  to  fill  the  aching  void  within 
their  hearts.  Others"  have  sought  it  in  the  giddy 
round  of  pleasure,  but  its  fascinating  and  seductive 


charms  could  not  relieve  the  famine  of  the  soul. — 
From  the  golden  treasures  of  wealth,  from  the  bloody 
battle-fields  of  conquerors,  and  from  the  halls  of 
gayety  and  pleasure,  conses  the  sad  testimony/  "van- 
ity of  vanities,  all  is  vanity."  Believe  me,  my  dear 
friend,  when  I  tell  you  there  is  no  true,  solid  peace 
and  satisfaction  out  of  Christ,  The  soul,  panting 
after  an  immortality  of  bliss,  cannot  be  satisfied  with 
the  perishing  objects  of  this  earth.  Its  aspirations 
teach  us  that  it  has  a  higher,  purer  and  more  exalted 
destiny.  The  true  Christian  is  the  only  happy  man 
on  earth.  Noah's  dove  wandered  hither  and  thither, 
but  found  mo  place  for  the  sole  of  her  foot,  and  she 
returned  to  the  ark.  You  may  go  from  one  object  to 
another  in  search  of  rest,  but  you  will  not  find  it  until 
your  soul  reposes  on  Jesus.  When  He  speaks  for- 
giveness to  the  weeping  penitent,  He  gives  rest  from 
the  burden  of  sin,  from  the  guilt  of  conscience,  from 
the  threatening  of  God's  broken  law,  and  from  the 
terrors  of  the  fiery  judgment.  Here  is  rest.  Jesus 
is  the  home  of  the  soul. 

"  0  cease  my  wandering  soul, 

On  restless  wings  to  roam, 
All  this  wide  world  to  either  pole, 

Has  not  for  Thee  a  home. 
Behold  the  Ark  of  God, 

Behold  the  open  door, 
0  haste  to  gain  that  blest  abode, 

And  rove  my  soul  no  more." 

Home  is  the  place  of  true-  affection.     You  will  be 
loved  there,  even  if  all  others  forsake  you.     When 


adversity  corner  upon  you,  and  your  summer  friends 
desert  you,  you  can  '•  ;  ■  to  one  place  where  you 
are  loved,  e  u  home.    .  But  the  love  that 

Jesus  offers  you,  in  himself,  is  superior  to  all  earthly 
love,  Be  has  shovi  i  it  in  coming  to  this  earth  to  be 
subjected  to  a  life  i  id  persecution,  in  being 

despised  and. rejected  of  men,  and  in  the  bleeding 
sacrifice  on  Halvary.  Who  can  doubt  II  is  love?  But 
Elis  love  ia  especially  tender  and  touching  to  (hose 
who  love  Him.      [f  i  be  even  greater  than  a 

mother's  love.  earth* 

is  that  of  the  mother.  Who  can  sound  the  depths 
of  a  m  >ther's  love!      I.   see   it  in  the  -      i  drop 

upon  the  coffin  as  she  lays  her  little  babe  in  the  grave. 
Is^ee  it  in  the  burning  anguish  of  hi  weeps 

over  the  conduct  oi  , .      1  see  it  in 

ten  thousand  acts  of  kindness  and  affection  which  she 
performs,  to   sweeten   the   ;  life.     Can 

there  be  greater  love  than  Ihii  >  will  love 

you  more   than  a  toother.     The  j  aiah  tells 

us  that  the  mother  et  her  tend**  offspring, 

but  Jesus  will  nut  forget  you.  0,  what  love!  O, 
the  depths  of  that  amazing  love  that  can  be  extended 
tc- a  wretch  like  me  !     JBti  at. with  us. 

When  friends  forsake,  Jesus  is  near.  Lie  will  never 
leave  you  nor  forsake  you,  for  lie  is  a  friend  that 
sticketh  closer  than  a  brother.  He  entered  Bedford 
jail  with  Euuyau  and  comforted  his  heart.  He  ena- 
bled Paul  and  Silas  to  sing  his  praises  at  the  mid- 
night hour,  though  their  feet  were  fast  in  the  stocks. 
He  tempered  the  flames  that  consumed  the  martyrs, 


and  their  seuls  ascended  to  heaven  in  a  blaze  of  glory. 
His  love  can  overleap  all  the  barriers  of  afflictions, 
persecutions,  circumstances  of  poverty  and  distress, 
and  in  the  dark  hours  of  our  life,  will  be  present  to 
cheer  and  illume  the  midnight  of  the  soul.  Jesus, 
precious  Saviour,  thou  art  the  home  of  the  soul.  To 
all  who  love  Him,  he  has  promised  an  everlasting 
home  in  heaven.  The  homes  we  have  here  are  very 
dear,  but  they  cannot  last  forever.  The  happy  ones, 
that  now,  by  their  presence,  make  home  the  scene  of 
every  joy,  will  soon  be  tenants  of  the  grave,  and  we 
shall  have  a  home  no  longer.  But  the  home  on  high 
abides  forever.  Sickness  and.  death  cannot  enter 
there.  The  joys  hud  up  in  heaven  will  never  be  in- 
terrupted by  the  ravages  of  sin.  Our  earthly  abodes 
must  soon  decay  and  crumble  into  dust,  but  that 
better  home  shall  never  fail,  for  it  is  not  made  with 
hands,  eternal  in  the  heavens.  . 

"Eye  hath  not  seen  its  sweet :- employ, 
Ear  hath  not  heard  its-sweet  sounds  of  joy. 
Earth  cannot  picture  a  world  so  fair, 
Sorrow  and  death  cannot"  enter  there  ; 
Time  does  not  breathe  on  Its  fadeless  hloo*i. 
Beyond  the  clouds  and  beyond  the  tomb. 
Is  Heaven  with  all  its  ,j< 

Is  not  such  a  home  desirable  ?  But,  my  impeni- 
tent friend,  you  have  no  such  home  as  this.  You 
may  have  a  comfortable  earthly  home  and  affectionate 
loved  ones  there,  but  if  you  have  not  a  home  in 
Christ  you  are  a  homeless  wanderer  and  a  lone  orphan 
in  this  world.  You  cannot  say,  "Our  Father/'  for 
you  have  not  given  Him  your  heart.     You  cannot 


sing,  "  Jesua,  Refuge  of  my  soul/'  for  you  have  not 
yet  fled  to  Him  for  safely  and  protection.     If  you  are 

yet  in  your  sins  Je  us  is  not  your  portion.  Poor 
sinner,  thou  art  without  a  home. 

mist  be  his 
Hifl  way,  how  ■  pr, 

Wb  eye  may  I 

The  Htar  above  the  manger." 

Seek  a  home  in  Christ.  Give  your  heart  to  Jesus. 
He  says,  "  him  that  cometh  to  me  1  will  in  no  wise  east 
.out."  •  ll  He  is  rich  in  merey  toward  all  that  call  upon 
Him.'"  There  yet  ia  merey  for  you.  0,  seek  his 
face  witnoi.it  delay.  A  time  may  coiTfc  when  you 
would  seek  Him,  but  He  will  net  be  found. 
God  forbid  that  any  one  who  reads  lines,  shall 

be  -heard  at  the  great  day  of  judgment,  calling 
upon  the  rocks  and  mountains  to  fall  upon  him  and 
hide  him  from  the  face  of  ilim  that  sitteth  upon  the 
throne;  but  may  the  spirit  lead  you  to  Jesus  now, 
that  at  that  day,  He  may  place  upon  your  head  a 
crown  of  gold,  and  in  your  hands  a  harp,  tuned  to 
the  melodious  anthems  of  the  blest.  Some  of  us  are 
almost  home.  When  the  pious  Baxter  lay  upon  his 
dying  bed.,  a  friend  asked  him  how  he  felt;  he  replied. 
**  nearly  well,  and  almost  home."  Some  of  us  will 
soon  be  there.  A  few  more  pulsations  oT  our  hearts, 
and  they  shall  beat  no  more.  The  heavenly  Canaan 
is  jo-  Soon  the  last  battle  will  be  fought, 

and  the  Christian  soldier  shall  lay  down  his  arms,  and 
go  to  that  home*  where  the  wicked  cease  from  trou- 
bling and  the  weary  are  at  ] 


My  soidier  fri  end,  will  you  be  there  t  A  re  you  te-day 

clothed  in  the  garment  of  &  Savour's  righteousness? 

Do  you  hope*  tor- pardon  trough  his  atoning  blood  F 

^"lf- so,',  all- wili   be  well?     If  not,  seek  the  Saviour 

™  without  delay.      Rest   not  another  night  until  *you 

have  made  your  pence  with   Iliiu.     Throw  yourself 

upon  the  kind  arms  of  Jesus. 

Jie  will  save  you. 

"  0,  he  fa  full  of  grace,  , 

Aud  he  will  ne'er  permit. 
The  soul  that  fain  would  seek  kis  fase, 
To  perish  at  his  feet.''' 

May  God  bless  those  #ords  to   the  saving  of  your 
•  souls,  is  my  prayer,  for  His  name's  sake. 


Hollinger  Corp. 
pH8.5 


